As mesothelioma patients struggle in the face of their intractable disease, researchers around the world continue exploring new approaches to treatment-resistant cancers. Among these is a new gene editing technology called base editing that has delivered remarkable results for a young leukemia patient in London, England.
New Treatment Modifies CAR-T Protocol Already Being Tested in Mesothelioma
The treatment administered to the teenage leukemia patient is a version of the CAR-T cell therapy that is currently being tested for use in malignant mesothelioma. CAR-T is an acronym for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy. This technology isolates the T-cells from a sample of the patient’s blood, then modifies them to produce a cancer-specific receptor molecule that targets and attaches to proteins on the surface of their cancer’s cells.
Unlike the tests being done on mesothelioma patients, the researchers from University College London used a more precise base editing technique to modify immune cells. The cells were then administered to the 13-year-old patient in hopes that they would “rapidly find and destroy T-cells in the body.” Dr. Otis Brawley, an oncology professor at Johns Hopkins University and the former chief medical and scientific officer of the American Cancer Society said that gene editing would be both easier and a less expensive approach.
Research Into Treating Leukemia Can Benefit Mesothelioma Patients
Though malignant mesothelioma and leukemia are very different forms of cancer, both have proven responsive to CAR-T therapy. The patient on whom the base editing trial was conducted is just 13 years old. She had been diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2021, but treatment with chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant failed to rid her of her disease, leaving her with only palliative care as an option.
Mesothelioma patients given a dire prognosis can take heart from what happened next. The girl was selected to become the first person in the world to be infused with base-edited T-cells, and one month after their administration at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London she was determined to be in remission.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, hope lies in groundbreaking research. For information about the options available to you, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
